Thirst and hunger cannot frighten us, wolves, insects, tigers and leopards are not our opponents, and we must never forget that we are soldiers. The first duty of a soldier is to fight and die for the motherland! However, until the sacred mission is accomplished, we must not make sacrifices lightly. We must live and walk towards the light with our motherland!

- Yu Hai

According to the expected day, the five masters did not come back.

There was a water shortage in the regiment. Two days ago, Luo Zhengxiong had already ordered that the daily water consumption of each person be halved. At the moment, it seems that this is not enough, it has to be reduced, Luo Zhengxiong conveyed the order, and the total amount of each group was reduced by one and a half, so that the group could be balanced and controlled.

As soon as the news came out, people's hearts were a little floating, Luo Zhengxiong was worried about female soldiers at first, but he didn't think about it, but the female soldiers didn't say anything, and those who made some trouble were all male compatriots. Luo Zhengxiong felt a trace of unhappiness in his heart, at any time, he didn't want to hear the voice of bitterness, especially gay men. But now is not the time for him to be emotional, and he must find a way to stabilize everyone's hearts.

The team has been readjusted according to Wanyue's suggestion, and the first group is currently living at the measurement point, and the temporary camping site is not far from the wild boar well, and Wanyue is also in it. Luo Zhengxiong sent someone to let Yu Hai come to the meeting overnight. The fifth master didn't come back on time, this is not a good sign, Luo Zhengxiong has an ominous premonition in his heart, he wants to take the front and formulate countermeasures.

In the middle of the night, Yu Hai rushed back to the camp. Luo Zhengxiong asked anxiously: "How is it, there is nothing abnormal in one group, right?" ”

"There's a point, but it's not a big problem, I just finished a meeting with them and emphasized it." Yu Hai looks very optimistic, he is such a person, the more critical he is, the more optimistic he becomes.

Luo Zhengxiong presided over the first emergency meeting of the Second Special Mission, and he said: "At the moment, we have two bones to gnaw, one is water, and if something really happens on the road, we must find the water source before the water is completely cut off." The second is the upcoming black storm, according to the wind season, the annual black storm will come at this time, and we must prepare in advance. Yu Hai took over and said: "When the wild boar well is measured, I want to gather everyone, there is a lot of strength, and we have to prepare for the worst to deal with the black storm." "Luo Zhengxiong and Yu Hai have both personally experienced the black storm, known as the black storm of the first killer of the desert, if it really blows, you can't find the words to describe it, it seems that it is possible to destroy the entire desert.

Liu Wei, the deputy head of the regiment, was a little disagreeing with Yu Hai's opinion: "The team has just been pulled up, and then withdrawn, will it affect morale?" ”

"These are two different things, we have to think about safety first." Yu Hai said.

Liu Wei continued: "As a soldier, I keep talking about safety, I am too unconfident, right? ”

"But we can't be confident, you haven't encountered a black storm, have you?" Yu Hai asked rhetorically, his tone somewhat dissatisfied. Luo Zhengxiong stopped Yu Hai with his eyes, but unfortunately the light was too dim, and Yu Hai didn't look at him at all. Luo Zhengxiong is familiar with the sea, the two used to work in a battalion, and later separated, but they have similar personalities to each other and can be called friends of life and death. Luo Zhengxiong is not very familiar with Liu Wei, he only knows that he is a man, among the regiment-level cadres, his majesty is famous, and he is not even under Luo Zhengxiong, everyone calls him a unicorn. Two rebellions in northern Xinjiang were led by him to quell them, one of them, he was surrounded by a tribe, but he didn't show a word of fear on his face, and finally he forced the leader with a short knife to break out of the encirclement.

"his grandma, dare to get off Lao Tzu's gun!"

At that time, he scolded this sentence, which became a scare word in the northern Xinjiang area, Wang Zhen also named him at the meeting, criticizing him for being reckless, not afraid of death and not being able to do it, but after the meeting, he was quickly promoted to deputy regiment. If he hadn't made a mistake later, he would have become a group a long time ago, and he wouldn't have been able to be Luo Zhengxiong's deputy at all.

The two were still arguing, one insisted on withdrawing, and the other said that if you are timid, you should not enter the special second regiment. Luo Zhengxiong knew in his heart that Liu Wei was angry, the work progress of the second group he led was slow, three days later than planned, and it had not yet reached the distance of the specified camp, so he was anxious and wanted to catch up with the progress.

Luo Zhengxiong hurriedly played a round: "You two will fight together, when can you discuss issues calmly?" As soon as the two heard the regiment leader's blame, they stopped talking. Yu Hai handed Liu Wei a cigarette, Liu Wei took it, and smoked violently.

The wild wind is roaring outside, and no one's heart can sink inside. Liu Wei really hasn't encountered a black storm, which can be regarded as a fluke, but he still doesn't dare to have the slightest contempt for the upcoming wind period in his heart.

After waiting for five days in a row, there was still no news from the five masters. Zhang Xiaotian, who was in charge of finding the water source, did not move, and the situation became grim. The amount of water used has been reduced to a minimum and can no longer be reduced, but the water in the skin is getting less and less, which makes people worry at a glance. In the middle of this, Scout Kobayashi came back with a letter. After reading the letter, Luo Zhengxiong's mood was a little lighter, and what he was worried about would not happen after all, so that he could concentrate on dealing with the things in front of him. However, a sentence from Kobayashi's report made his mood suddenly heavy.

The division commander said that the current situation is very complicated, and the unfortunate death of the 1st Special Regiment has triggered a crisis of confidence, and the Corps is secretly purging itself, and three regiment-level cadres of the 2nd Division alone have been cleared out. He told us to be cautious, because although it is not possible to prove who is wrong at the moment, the situation is changing, and anything is possible. ”

Anything is possible! In this way, his suspicions cannot be completely eliminated, and the division commander did not guarantee the absolute innocence of the object of his suspicion, but only said that he had conducted a touch and investigation during the selection and found nothing suspicious. Gotta keep your eyes peeled! This is the advice given to him by the division commander in the letter, and it is also a request. He lit the letter, looked at the flame, and suddenly thought, will the tragedy of the special group really be repeated in the special second group?

Anything is possible!

Ignoring the opposition of the others, Liu Wei resolutely took the second group up and temporarily stationed them fifty kilometers away from the camp. This move made Luo Zhengxiong and others worried, and the group that had planned to withdraw had to move the temporary camp forward because of this move. Regarding the water shortage, Liu Wei replied very simply: "Even if you only drink two sips of water a day, you have to catch up with the task you pulled down." But God didn't help him, and on the first night of the camp, two soldiers had a high fever, and the fever came very suddenly, and in the middle of the night two of them burned like a fireball, and the young instrument hand in one of them even talked nonsense. After daybreak, the situation improved slightly, but it was obviously impossible to go to work, so one of the instruments was forced to stop. Liu Wei was so angry that he lost his temper: "Grandma, if you don't burn in the morning and don't burn in the evening, you will pick on me at this juncture." The military doctor reminded him: "This high fever is not a good sign, and other team members should be more careful, if they are infected, they ......."

Liu Wei interrupted the military doctor impatiently: "Infected, can you use fewer words to scare people?" It's only been a few days since I came out, and I can't stand it anymore, I can't stand it all and go back to me, so I ask for someone from the division again! ”

Although Liu Wei said angry words, he also hit the key point of this new team. Compared with the original teams that dare to fight, this new team is simply impossible to mention. According to Liu Wei's words, this team is a talented soldier, and it is the gentleman who is difficult to deal with, and the one who is difficult to bring in the soldier is the talent. If you force it lightly, it will not be used, and if you are forced to do it, all kinds of problems will be given to you. Liu Wei ignored everyone's opposition and resolutely brought out the second group at this critical juncture when the black wind was about to cut off water and food, just to force out the squeamishness, tenderness, and even the high spirit in his heart. What's the big deal, don't you just fiddle with a few instruments, one by one pretending to be like great intellectuals, and fighting against devils with real knives and guns, it's far from it! Liu Wei is not used to looking down on cultural people, he is not used to seeing cultural people and treating himself too seriously.

He pointed to Xiucai Wu Yipeng: "You carry the instrument and follow me." ”

Wu Yipeng muttered, "I won't." ”

"If you can't learn, how can people be born with it?" What else did Xiucai have to say, Liu Wei was already angry, he shouted at the fat girl Zhang Shuangyang, "Zhang Shuangyang, you are in a group with Wu Yipeng, if you can't finish the prescribed points today, don't come back!" ”

Zhang Shuangyang had long been dissatisfied with Wu Yipeng, and when he heard the deputy head of the regiment such an order, he happily shouldered the ruler and walked forward humming a northern Shaanxi folk song in his mouth. Wu Yipeng rubbed for a while, but still obediently picked up the instrument and followed Zhang Shuangyang on the road. When he arrived at the measurement point, Wu Yipeng really didn't know anything, and he couldn't operate the tripod. Angry, Zhang Shuangyang threw the ruler and ran over and said, "You run the ruler, I'll come." Wu Yipeng stared at Zhang Shuangyang in disbelief: "Will you?" ”

"Don't worry about it!" Zhang Shuangyang said as he opened the tripod and installed the instrument. Surprising things happened, no one knows when Zhang Shuangyang learned to fiddle with the level, but she can indeed fiddle. The instrument hand on the side was not very relieved, and ran over to confirm it, but Zhang Shuangyang even read a few numbers, all of which were the same as he read. The young instrument hand stared at the chubby girl, and his eyes showed rare approval. When Liu Wei saw this scene, his heart was so excited that he jumped with joy. There's really nothing difficult in the world, it's up to you to think about it.

Stuffy, dry, thirsty, the sun is like an autumn tiger, so vicious that it can't be mentioned.

As soon as the two groups left, there were few people in the camp, but these people did not dare to be idle for a moment. Luo Zhengxiong took these logistics soldiers to dig the ground. The nests are prepared for the coming black storm, according to Luo Zhengxiong's experience, these nests that live in the current people's nests are afraid that the sand and dust will be filled before the wind has officially swept over. He planned to dig two large ones, which could fit thirty or forty people, so that as soon as the black storm came, the male and female soldiers could gather together and take advantage of the days when they could not work in the black wind to grasp the study of the team. Of course, such a nest is very particular about digging, and it can't be pulled out in three or two clicks, but fortunately, there are two local soldiers in the cooking class, and they are good at doing this.

People think that logistics soldiers are easy to work in, work without danger, and eat and drink well, but in fact, they are not. In any army, there is an unwritten rule, or tradition, that everything is for the front, and this is true in times of war, and even more so now. For example, at this moment, with a total of eight sentinels, Luo Zhengxiong's water consumption is one bowl a day, and on average, each person has two mouthfuls. In normal times, these two mouthfuls of water are not enough to moisten the lips, but at this time, this bowl of water has become a clear spring, rippling there, and you can quench your thirst at a glance. There is a veteran named Lao Zhun Tou in the cooking class, in his forties, who is a joke on weekdays, and as long as he seizes the opportunity, he can make you laugh out of tears. In the past two days, the old man suddenly lost his speech, and no matter how his comrades-in-arms teased, he just didn't say a word. Luo Zhengxiong saw that he was too serious and made the team die, so he said: "Old Commander, tell me about you killing the tip of the nose of the leader of the rebels with one shot." The old man was silent for a long time, but he still didn't speak, Luo Zhengxiong encouraged again, and he said hoarsely: "Save some saliva, one spitt top two bowls of water." ”

Luo Zhengxiong walked out of the ground without a word, and in the past two days, he dug and dug, and he would come out uncontrollably and look at the Huangsha Ancient Road for a while. In the desert of late autumn, except for the waves of wind and sand waves, I really can't see anything else. Although the grass is still green, the green is extremely limited, and if you don't stare carefully, the green will escape from your eyes, like a sprinting rabbit, and disappear in a moment. The ancient road is still there, the yellow sand is still there, but he can't see the figure he wants. What's going on, no matter how long it is delayed, it can't be delayed now? Luo Zhengxiong's heart was full of uneasiness, and the ominous lurking in his heart poured out again, he couldn't wait any longer, wait any longer, not only would the lives of dozens of people be in danger, but the three people sent to fetch water might really disappear like yellow sand.

Thinking so, he stepped back to the nest, handed over the work here to the old master, and rode his horse to the wild boar well quickly, he wanted to withdraw a group and make every effort to search and rescue the five camel masters.

He was already convinced that something had happened to them.

In the desert where the yellow sand rolls, the horse's hooves are not dust, but green smoke. More than three hours later, Luo Zhengxiong rushed to the wild boar well, and unexpectedly the wild boar well was quiet and uninhabited. What about people? Luo Zhengxiong muttered in his heart, rode his horse to look around, turned around a lot, and still didn't find a group of officers and soldiers. It's really strange, obviously saying that they are camping here, why is there no trace? Luo Zhengxiong was anxious, isn't it a group moving forward again? Thinking so, he clamped his legs and drove the horse forward. After walking for less than half an hour, he suddenly saw smoke in front of him, Luo Zhengxiong rushed over in the direction of Qingyan, and sure enough, he saw a group of soldiers lying there under a dilapidated wall, and instruments and rulers were stacked not far away.

"What's going on?" Luo Zhengxiong asked in surprise.

Jiang Tao, a battalion member who was lying on the ground in a daze, got up abruptly and saluted: "Report to the head of the regiment, something has happened to the group." ”

"What's the matter?" Luo Zhengxiong dismounted, his eyes swept on Jiang Tao's face, because he didn't see the political commissar Yu Hai, his heart became more and more nervous.

The other fighters stood up at the sound, their faces full of frustration.

"Commander, let's ......" The commander of the first battalion was a little confused, and seemed to be unable to say anything.

"Say, what's wrong?!"

"Commander, you come with me." Seeing this, the first battalion commander's expression changed, and he led Luo Zhengxiong forward.

This is an abandoned stockade, and by the signs it was once a mansion, maybe it was the palace of some prince. Although the village has become a ruin, the traces of the four sites and the houses are very clear, and what Jiang Tao took Luo Zhengxiong to was the backyard of the village at that time, a location similar to a wing room. There was a pit there, not deep, but it could block the sun, and it was surprisingly clean inside, as if the wind and sand could not blow in. This is really a miracle, Luo Zhengxiong has never seen such a strange thing. But this time, he didn't care about curiosity at all, because what was in front of him was something more shocking than this.

A group of water bladders burst!

The water bladder is placed in this pit, which is a wonderful idea, not only can not blow into the wind and sand, but also is more strange, the pit is also faintly permeated with a cool air, the water bladder is put overnight, the water becomes cold water, drinking not only quenches thirst, but also moistens the lungs and clears the heart.

"What's going on?" With just one glance, Luo Zhengxiong's heart jumped in pain, that was the net worth of a group.

"We are in a meeting to investigate that someone is deliberately sabotage." A battalion of Jiang Tao Road.

"Sabotage, which king did it?" Luo Zhengxiong took out his gun, and walked towards the broken wall. Jiang Tao, a battalion leader, followed closely and said in a timid voice: "The enemy is too cunning, and he attacked after everyone slept and died at night. ”

"Sleep to death? Dozens of people can't stand a water bladder, you eat dry rice?! Scolding, Luo Zhengxiong has already arrived under the wall, there is a touch of shade under the wall, and people take turns to squeeze under the shade. Luo Zhengxiong didn't know that this was an order from political commissar Yu Hai, and if the sabotage could not be found, no one should leave the wall.

This is not a trivial matter, just imagine, if a group does not mix with the enemy, who can be ruthless to puncture the water bladder and let go of the last half of the life-saving water?

But who is this enemy?

Luo Zhengxiong's gaze swept over everyone's faces under the wall one by one, everyone looked like it, and no one looked like it.

"What about the commissar?"

"I went out early in the morning to find her." Jiang Tao's voice has returned to normal.

"She?" Luo Zhengxiong realized that there was one less person under the wall, and Wan Yue was not there.

"Where did Wanyue go?" Luo Zhengxiong's heart was tense again.

"I don't know," Jiang Tao lowered his gaze and said in a low voice, "After the incident, she disappeared." ”

"What?!" Luo Zhengxiong's arm holding the gun went limp, and he felt that someone had bitten him hard.

"It won't be her!" At this moment, a female soldier under the wall came over and shouted in a hoarse voice. At the same time, she solemnly begged Luo Zhengxiong: "Regiment Leader, it is by no means Wan Yue, now the whole group suspects her, Wan Yue must be uncomfortable, Regiment Leader, you must find out the real culprit and clear up the injustice for Wan Yue." ”

The female soldier who spoke seemed to be called Tian Yuzhen, from the third battalion of the second regiment of the second division, Luo Zhengxiong was in a trance for a while, and he didn't dare to determine whether she was called this name. "What's your name?" Luo Zhengxiong asked.

"Report to the regiment leader, my name is Tian Yuzhen, the platoon leader of the women's platoon of the third battalion of the second regiment, and I have also heard your deeds report."

Sure enough, it was her, Luo Zhengxiong then asked: "How can you conclude that it is not Wanyue?" ”

"After this relocation, Wan Yue resolutely disagreed with the centralized release of water, she suggested twice that the political commissar give everyone water, but the political commissar was afraid that everyone would not be able to resist, so he drank the water in advance, so he ......"

"Is there such a thing?" Luo Zhengxiong's gaze turned to a battalion of Jiang Tao. Jiang Tao blushed and said: "Yes, but this can't rule out that she put a smoke screen." ”

"Smoke bombs?" Somehow, Luo Zhengxiong suddenly had a trace of disgust for Jiang Tao, very strong, he suppressed it, and didn't let anything appear on his face. "Where is Wanyue gone, and how long has it been gone?"

"I didn't see it early yesterday morning, we shouldn't sit here for an analysis meeting, we should hurry up and find someone." Tian Yuzhen hurriedly said.

"Nonsense!" Luo Zhengxiong dropped a sentence, jumped on his horse angrily, and ran towards the depths of the desert.

The further you go into the desert, the more mysterious it becomes, and the area around the boar well is more barren and desolate than the camp. Luo Zhengxiong walked in the direction, almost one by one, according to his intuition, he believed that Wan Yue went inside, because he had been paying attention all the way when he came, and he didn't find a figure, and if Wan Yue was really suspected by the second group, according to her character, she could only go inside. Monkey business! Luo Zhengxiong still had these two words ringing in his head, how could political commissar Yu Hai be so nonsense! It didn't go far, the jujube red horse struggled, the horse's hooves stepped down, and it was quickly sucked by the sand, and it was quite difficult to lift it again. After all, the horse is not as good as a camel, and besides, this horse has not been given water to drink for three days, and its mouth is wide open all the way, and it is about to run forward when it sees a star green. Luo Zhengxiong jumped off the horse, just in time to see Tian Yuzhen leading a few female soldiers to follow closely.

"Take the horse back and get some green grass for it." After Luo Zhengxiong shouted this, he dropped his horse and walked towards Shaliangzi without hesitation.

After turning over three sand beams one after another, Luo Zhengxiong was so tired that he couldn't breathe, but he didn't dare to stop. Wan Yue didn't come back for two days, and the area was so barren that they could still sit there for a meeting. He touched the kettle on his waist, and there was still half a jug of water, but he was reluctant to drink it. He shook it, listened to the sound of water, felt less thirsty, stuck out his tongue and licked his lower lip, and walked forward again. At this time, he remembered the time when the Hotan rebellion was quelled, and it was also such a sand dune one after another, with the yellow sand as far as the eye could see, and the hot sun. The troops were also in a situation of lack of water, but none of the soldiers shouted that they were tired, and would rather save the water for the horses to drink, rather than put their tongues on the kettle and lick it. At that time, the team worked so hard, all of them seemed to have three heads and six arms, walking in the desert for three days and three nights, and no one was left behind. Looking at the current team, Luo Zhengxiong had to sigh, although this team was formed temporarily, and more than half of them had no formal training, but after all, this team is younger and should be more fleshy.

It seems that the word liberation has indeed relieved many people, especially those who have newly joined the army, thinking that as long as they become soldiers, they will enjoy the fruits of the revolution. At a political meeting of the division headquarters half a year ago, Tong Tieshan, political commissar of the division, raised this issue, and many comrades still held different opinions, saying that now that we have liberated the contingent that we should not have taken from the war years, we should lead everyone's thinking to peaceful construction, so that we can show that we are a victorious contingent and a contingent that can lead to the light. At that time, Luo Zhengxiong did not express his opinion, because he knew that he was going to change jobs, and what he was thinking about was what to do in the local area. Looking back now, the Tong Political Commissar's worries are correct, a team, no matter what time it is, must have faith and be prepared for the worst to fight against hardships and hardships. Without this, the team is scattered and has no future. Luo Zhengxiong decided that when he went back this time, he would concentrate time on carrying out a political education and muster up everyone's conviction.

Faith is the sharpest weapon to overcome all difficulties.

In the scorching desert, faith is water, an oasis that inspires us to move forward.